(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to folding cartons and, more particularly, to a folding carton, having an integral, external cushioning structure including a pair of offset end wall panels, adapted to hold and cushion a packaged article.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Packages for incandescent lightbulbs and other fragile articles are generally conventional corrugated sleeves. Paperboard cartons offer a number of advantages over such corrugated sleeves, such as a more attractive printed package, a greater security in that the lamps are not likely to fall out of the package as in the case of corrugated sleeves, the ability to stack large number of the packages on shelves and the like, and greater facility in packing and shipment since the unerected cartons can be folded completely flat. However, such cartons are not widely used, primarily because of the problem of breakage during shipment and, in particular, breakage which occurs when the carton is dropped.
Such breakage may occur regardless of the number of packaged articles therein, but it is particularly exacerbated in cartons containing two or more fragile packaged articles, and particularly, in cartons which the packaged articles lay one beside the other in one plane. This is because such cartons have a natural tendency to fall end-over-end when dropped and, consequently, are much more likely to land on one end after falling. Thus, in order to provide satisfactory cushioning, the carton must include some means of preventing the article from coming in contact with the end of the carton, i.e., the plane defined by the edges of the top, bottom, front and back panels.
A prior art search directed to the subject matter of this application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office disclosed the following Letters Patent: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,630,497; 1,888,855; 2,569,733; 3,197,112; and 4,438,848.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,630,497, 1,888,855, and 2,569,733 are all exemplary of cartons in which lightbulbs or other similar fragile articles are contained. However, none of these prior patents disclose a carton, having an external cushioning structure comprising a pair of offset or recessed end walls, which is adapted to receive portions of the packaged article and cushion the article by preventing it from coming in contact with the plane defined by the edges of the top, bottom, front and back panels.
The 3,197,112 patent is exemplary of a milk carton having reverse folds along opposite edges thereof. However, the Z-folds construction taught by this patent is structured differently and for a different purpose than the offset end wall configurations formed by the present invention.
The 4,438,848 patent is directed to a folding carton having various recesses and cutouts for supporting a fragile article, however, otherwise it is not similar to the present invention.
It has thus become desirable to develop a folding carton, having an integral, external cushioning structure which includes a pair of offset end walls, adapted to hold and cushion a packaged article by preventing the article from being damaged by coming in contact with a plane defined by the edges of the top, bottom, front and back panels.